"The first lap was good but not the best one of my career. I overtook some riders but then I saw that Valentino was pushing really hard from the beginning then I pushed too, it was like qualifying practice, but I overheated my tyres.

"When I just overtook Johann I just started to struggle a lot, looks like Valentino was really close but I started to struggle, I started to feel uncomfortable. I lost the front in last turn, I saved with elbow.

"Then I say, 'okay, cool down, try to be smart, try to understand which is the situation with the tyres'. I did it, and then step by step I started to feel better, I started to feel like still I was catching tenth by tenth Valentino and that was another extra motivation."

Much to the disappoint of the fans in Sepang, a mouth-watering battle with Rossi at the front failed to materialise and Marquez was also disappointed.

"The plan was to arrive (on Rossi's wheel) and try to fight," he added. "We were both riding on the limit, it was a really fast pace. Our level was very equal.

"On that corner (Turn 1) he was a little bit wide, but when you are fighting like this you don't want to lose any tenths and then he tried to come back quick but he lost the front."

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